


Try To Speak Through the Roses in Your Teeth; They Have a Hundred Names You'll Never Know

by Draikinator



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: ASL, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mute Link, Post Game, some death talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 02:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14740544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draikinator/pseuds/Draikinator
Summary: “You are incorrigible,” he tutted. “What about something with handsome? How do I sign handsome?”Link touched the sides of his face and Sidon replicated the motion a few times.'Handsome prince,’ he signed.'My handsome prince,’ Link signed, lips twitching. Sidon felt his face split apart in a smile.'Your handsome prince,’ he signed back.





	Try To Speak Through the Roses in Your Teeth; They Have a Hundred Names You'll Never Know

'I’m giving you a name today,’ Link signed.

Sidon tilted his head to the side curiously, then haphazardly signed, 'What bad about,’ then paused, slowly fingerspelling 'S-i-d-o-n.’”

'H-S-L name,’ Link signed with a laugh. His hands moved fluidly, naturally, especially when compared to Sidon’s shaky, uncertain movements as he tried to master Hylian Sign Language word by word.

Sidon resisted the urge to speak and admit defeat, adjusting his hands position in front of him and the way his knees were folded below him on the waterbed in his quarters, 'OK. What name?’

Link tapped his finger thoughtfully to his lips, then raised his right hand with two fingers out and wiggled it like a fish swimming through the water. Sidon tilted his head curiously, and Link grabbed the notepad and pencil from beside him.

‘It’s a combination of the signs for 'fish’ and 'prince.’’ The notepad read. Sidon grimaced.

“I am not a fish,” he said, then frowned when he realized he had forgotten to use his hands, “Zora are amphibians.”

Link chuckled and rolled his eyes, then made a very complicated sign that made Sidon’s second stomach flip at the idea of trying to duplicate, then ended it with 'prince.’ He gestured for the notepad back.

'Amphibian prince,’ the notepad told him. It was Sidon's turn to roll his eyes.

“You are incorrigible,” he tutted. “What about something with handsome? How do I sign handsome?”

Link touched the sides of his face and Sidon replicated the motion a few times.

'Handsome prince,’ he signed.

'My handsome prince,’ Link signed, lips twitching. Sidon felt his face split apart in a smile.

'Your handsome prince,’ he signed back. 'Your name what?’ he asked.

Link paused, then made a flipping motion with his palms before tapping his chest and making an L. Sidon mimicked the sign and noted an odd softness in Link’s eyes he couldn't quite place, but didn't have the opportunity to pry, as the lesson continued.

 

* * *

 

“Prince Sidon!” Royal Guard Captain Bazz called, waving, as Sidon exited the corridor into the main platform of the palace courtyard. Sidon waved back at Captain Bazz, who hiked his ankle around the base of his spear and slid it behind him against the wall in one impressively fluid motion.

'How are your,’ was all Sidon could make out before Captain Bazz’s signing became unintelligible to him. Sidon stared at him dumbly for a moment, before he sheepishly raised his own hands.

'Sorry,’ he said with a loose fist, 'I don't understand.’

“How are your lessons going?” Captain Bazz asked with a chuckle as he repeated his sentence with his hands. “Not good, I take it?”

'I learn,’ Sidon signed slowly, refusing to admit defeat, 'My words okay.’

Captain Bazz smiled, clearly resisting the compulsion to laugh again at his prince, “You’ll pick it up. If you want, I can practice with you. I’m a little rusty, though.”

“That would be wonderful,” Sidon sighed, “Link is an excellent teacher, but his hands are so small…”

“I’m sure Miss Kodah at the Seabed Inn or Lieutenant Gaddison would be happy to help you as well, sire,” Captain Bazz continued, “They’re both fluent- or they were, a century ago, but Miss Kodah most likely has had more practice than I, and I’ve never known Gaddison to forget anything.”

“That’s very helpful, Captain, thank you,” Sidon said, “Oh, also, Link gave me a sign name today. Would you like to see?”

“I’m very interested to see what he gave you,” Captain Bazz mused.

“Well, this was his first,” Sidon said, carefully recreating the fish/prince hybrid Link had shown him. Captain Bazz studied his hands for a moment before he blinked as recognition passed across his eyes.

“Ah- fish prince!” Captain Bazz laughed, “That sounds like Master Link.”

“We settled on this one,” Sidon followed through with the very simple 'Prince S’ they had eventually settled on. Captain Bazz nodded.

“Very practical,” he commented.

“Hm… Bazz, do you know what this sign might mean?” He asked, mimicking the sign Link had shown him was his name. Captain Bazz immediately looked alarmed.

“Uh,” he said, “Why?”

“What is it?” Sidon pressed.

“It means corpse, or dead body-” Captain Bazz said, looking a little uncomfortable, “and then the letter L.”

Sidon felt his breath hitch, “Thank you, Captain. I have to go suddenly.”

“Yeah,” said Captain Bazz uncertainly as Sidon spun on his heel back to his quarters.

 

* * *

 

Link was asleep when Sidon opened the door to his room, bundled up in a sphere dead center of the bed, as usual. He noted the way Link’s things were spread out across his room- his clothes neatly folded on the table by the servants, his sword and shield poking out from under the bed, books and food on every surface that would hold them.

“Link,” Sidon said, gently, knowing it wouldn't be enough to wake his sleeping partner. He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the mattress, then, with only minor trepidation, shook him by what was probably his shoulder, under the covers.

Link jerked awake with a startled cry and a kick in his direction that he avoided with practiced care, before his blond hair and glassy eyes peeked out into the early afternoon sunlight with the obvious unspoken question.

“Can I talk to you?” Sidon asked. Link narrowed his eyes at him, confused, then nodded, shifting and pulling himself out of his cocoon so that his legs were crossed and the comforter in his lap. His tunic hung from one shoulder in a way that was so cute it tempted to distract him into paying some attention to the skin it revealed, but he wanted to stay on track for once.

'Sorry,’ Link signed, then pointed at his foot.

“About kicking me? Don’t worry about it, heart, I understand you didn’t mean it. I usually try not to wake you.”

Link frowned.

“I was speaking to Captain Bazz this morning- you remember Captain Bazz?”

'More or less,’ Link signed with a shrug.

“He’s very good at Hylian Sign- he used to speak it with you when you were children, he told me!” Link looked interested, ears swiveling upward, “I told him you tried to name me fish prince.”

Link smiled, warm and real and Sidon didn't want to keep talking, didn't want to say anything that would make his little sunshine smile duck back behind Link’s clouds of distance and quiet sorrow.

“I told him your name,” Sidon continued, searching Link’s face for a reaction. He was tightly controlled though, and simply shrugged, letting his face fall neutral and his eyes drop ever so away from contact.

“He said it meant dead body. Is that true?”

Link shrugged again, eyes stubbornly averted.

“Why would you name yourself that?”

Link shrugged again and Sidon touched his hand where it lay in his lap, running his thumb gently over Link’s scarred knuckles.

“Link,” he said, softly.

Link sighed. 'I am a dead body,’ he signed, 'a dead body with a-’ unfamiliar sign.

“A dead body with a what?” Sidon asked. Link grimaced, and Sidon leaned over to the nightstand to grab his notepad and handed it to him. He waited patiently while Link finished writing his thoughts.

'A dead body with a beating heart,’ the notepad told him, 'But that sounds like stupid emo poetry.’

“It’s not stupid if it's how you feel,” Sidon told him, handing the notepad back, “You seem pretty alive to me, though. Why do you feel that way?”

Link opted to forgo signing and used the notepad instead, keeping his eyes down as he handed it back.

'I died in the Calamity like everyone else. They threw me in a shrine and got my heart beating again and my body moving, but they didn't bring me back. I feel like whoever used to be in this body died and I replaced them.’

Sidon felt both of his hearts breaking for his lover and the stress he'd been silently enduring, “In truth, I don't remember what you were like all those years ago, so I could not tell you if you were different.” He reached up to gently touch Link’s face, and was glad when he didn't pull away, “But I very much like you, whether you are the same man or not.”

Link snorted. 'Thanks,’ he signed, lazily. He hesitated, then finally looked up to meet Sidon’s concerned gaze, 'I love you.’

“I love you too,” Sidon said, signing the words as he spoke them. “But I think such a name for yourself is only reinforcing your sorrow. Perhaps we can choose a nicer one?”

Link looked for a moment like he might refuse, then paused beneath Sidon’s hopeful gaze, and hesitantly smiled.

'Ok.’


End file.
